The Party
by Paladin Power 1995
Summary: Ultra Rare are organising a gathering to celebrate the best Cardfighters in Japan..or so it appears. Suiko's playing matchmaker..will Aichi and Kourin find love? Or will it all come to nothing? AichixKourin A little OOC. First Fanfic! I'm excited! Please be honest in criticism


"What have you got there Aichi onii-san?" inquired Kamui Katsuragi, the self proclaimed brother and best friend of the blue haired cardfighting prodigy. The aforementioned Cardfighter was currently staring at an unfolded piece of paper with a look of surprise and puzzlement on his face:

"Ultra Rare have sent Team Q4 an invitation, Kamui-kun." Aichi replied without looking up from the paper. At this, both Kai and Misaki broke off their conversation and walked over to where Aichi and Kamui stood.

"Give it here, Aichi." Commanded Kai with a cold tone. Aichi handed him the invite quickly. Kai gazed at it for about a minute, then chucked it onto the nearest table. "Waste of time. I'm not going." The three remaining members gazed after him with mixed emotions on their faces. Misaki had a look of indifference, but if you examined her face carefully you would see sadness in her eyes. In contrast, Kamui's face was easy to read. His face was completely red with anger and his eyes had disappeared into slits. It took all his self control not to explode (Metaphorically). Aichi who had gotten used to Kai's abrasive personality, just sighed in disappointment.

"Should we go?" he asked them. Misaki just nodded.

"There must be a reason for their invitation." She reasoned quietly. "If so, we should go and discover it." Kamui agreed with a nod. Suddenly, there was an almighty commotion outside. It only took two words for everyone inside the shop to realise what was happening.

"KOURIN-CHANN!" Bellowed Katsumi Morikawa in delight. Beside him, his best friend and babysitter, Izaki Yuta just facepalmed. Said woman was just climbing off her motorbike when Aichi and the others exited the shop. She gave Morikawa a glare that, by all rights, should've killed him, but, being a fanboy, he was impervious to it. Growling in annoyance she spotted Aichi and strode over to him.

"Did you get the invitation, Aichi?" She asked briskly. Unbeknownst to the blue haired teen, her heartbeat had doubled in speed and there was a tiny spot of red on both her cheeks. Yes, Kourin had fallen for the adorable teen. She didn't know when, where or even how, but she knew that she was in love with him. The only problem was that both her sisters had found out. Rekka had taken it upon herself to torture the poor girl with compliments about Aichi, giving Kourin the impression that she liked him as well. Suiko on the other hand was ecstatic that her sister had found someone to care for, and had given the relationship her full support. That worried Kourin. Suiko's matchmaking skills were…nonexistent. In the worst case this could make Aichi hate her. She didn't think she could live with herself if that was to occur. She also knew that Suiko had organised this gathering of national tournament winners just so she could get some alone time with Aichi and confess her feelings. Kourin just hoped she wouldn't have to do that just yet.

"Kourin-san? Yes we got the invitation. What exactly is this gathering for?" This caused Kourin's cheeks to burn and her already rapid heartbeat to kick into overdrive. Damn you Aichi.

"W-W-Well it's a way of improving friendly relations between the best teams in Japan. It was Suiko's idea. I mean you know Al4 and Caesar quite well I hear, but what about Wonder Boy? You defeated them, but do you know them as people? Do you know any facts about them that aren't in Vanguard Monthly?" Aichi fell silent in thought. When he thought about it, it did seem like a good idea. Now that Ren has lost his Psyqualia, he had become a much more relaxed, friendlier and a great person to be around. Even Kamui had become friends with him, although he still preferred to talk to Tetsu, the quiet Dark Irregulars user. Therefore relations between Al4 and Q4 had become much better than previously. But all the other teams in the final round were still a mystery to him.

"What are you thinking about Aichi?" inquired Misaki gently resting a hand on his shoulder. This action made Kourin narrow her eyes in jealousy although she didn't understand why. As far as she knew Misaki held only platonic feelings for Aichi. What was there to worry about?

"I think it is a great idea, Misaki-san." Answered Aichi brightly with a broad smile. Kourin's heart fluttered. "It could help us become friends with more teams and therefore become better people and Cardfighters." Misaki smiled with pride and agreed. _"He's grown up a great deal in this past year." _She thought to herself.

"Well then," She took both Kamui and Aichi by the arm and led them back into Card Capital. As she did, she turned her head back to Kourin: "We'll see you there Kourin." Kourin turned away, walked to her bike and roared back to PSY at top speed. Her make up was about to take a battering.

Around 5 hours later Team Q4 arrived at Card shop PSY. It was already lit up with antique chandeliers and packed with the greatest cardfighters on the face of Japan. Both Aichi and Kamui's faces lit up with awe while Misaki looked quietly impressed. Everywhere they looked they could see famous faces from the Vanguard world. There was Kenji from Team Caesar being scolded by his teammate/girlfriend Yuri while Yuri's brother Gai chuckled in amusement. Apparently, he had eaten too much despite the gathering only just starting. This hadn't gone down well with Yuri, who kept muttering about men and their eating habits. Kenji looked up, saw Q4 and waved them over.

"Evening Q4! How are you finding this party?" Yuri smacked him and yelled at him that it wasn't a party. They all laughed.

"Great thank you, Mitsusada-san!" Aichi replied shaking hands. "We have just arrived and it looks great fun. We're using this opportunity to mingle with other teams and make friends." Kenji smiled broadly at the answer.

"That is a great idea Aichi-kun! Allow me to introduce the team Wonder Boy." He introduced a trio of young boys all of them around Kamui's age. Kamui saw this opportunity and started chatting with the three boys about all topics from guarding to girls. Aichi laughed when he heard Emi-san spouting out of Kamui's mouth. Seriously how Emi hadn't noticed Kamui blatant love for her was beyond him. Speaking of feelings…Aichi quickly looked around trying to spot a certain member of the famous idol group Ultra Rare. He sighed in relief when he couldn't see her.

He had realised his feelings for Kourin around the time that Kai had broken him out of his dark Psyqualia state. He shivered at the memory. He hated what he had become during that time, a twisted, cracked version of himself only interested in the final result of victory, destroying the values instilled in him by his idol, Kai. But in the midst he realised that Kourin had been the one person who had done the most to change him back. She had gone against the wishes of her elder sister Suiko, who only needed the power of Psyqualia, not the person carrying it. Kourin cared. That thought stuck in his mind. He needed to let her know what that meant to him. What _she _meant to him. Suddenly, his train of thought was cut off by a loud voice:

"GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Came the infamous and extremely annoying (in Morikawa's opinion!) voice of MC Miya the announcer for every Vanguard tournament to date. "THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING! PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE YOUR HOSTS FOR TONIGHT….ULTRA RARE!" There was a sea of applause while the three girls stepped on to the makeshift stage. Catcalls sounded from the older and immature guests. All three looked stunning. For Aichi though, words couldn't describe how good Kourin looked. She had let her blonde locks down and had applied lipstick and mascara. Simple yet effective. Aichi began to feel very hot.

"Thank you MC Miya!" shouted Rekka, taking control of the audience's attention. "We only have one word for everyone tonight: ENJOY!" Loud cheers erupted from the audience and the party-I mean "gathering" officially started.

Aichi sat back on the bench. The party had been in full swing for an hour and he still hadn't talked to Kourin. Plenty of other things had happened to keep him occupied. Surprisingly Kai had turned up with Ren and Al4. Ren had attempted to coerce Kai into coming with sweets but Kai had agreed to one thing only: a Cardfight with Ren the next day. It promised to be a legendary battle. But Aichi couldn't take any information in.

Kourin had been searching for Aichi for the past hour. It didn't help that she had to fend off drunk men trying to seduce her. Of course she flat out rejected them. She did only have one pair of eyes and they were already fixed on one boy. So, she kept on searching, until she spotted him sitting on a bench by himself. Kourin gave an unconscious sigh of dreaminess, a bright blush on her face. She took a deep breath and walked towards Aichi.

"A-A-Aichi?" Aichi turned and saw her. He turned pale and cursed his rapid heartbeat. _Why now? I've kept control all the other times I talked to her. What's changed? Maybe it how beautiful she looks tonight. _

"K-K-Kourin-san? W-W-What brings you here? Shouldn't you be enjoying the party?" stuttered Aichi shyly. Kourin just smiled gently. _Aichi ,Aichi, Aichi. Without you, I cant enjoy anything properly. _She mentally facepalmed. _Did I just think that? It's true but that was the sappiest thing I've ever thought! _

"Well Aichi if that's what you want I can always go-"

"NO!" Both Aichi and Kourin jumped at his outburst. Aichi looked down in shame. _Why did I do that. Kourin's going to hate me now. This was a mistake. There's no way she'll accept my feelings now-_

"Aichi, are you ok?" Kourin was scared. She had only seen Aichi shout once before, when he was under the influence of Psyqualia. She never wanted to see him like that again. It had broken her heart.

"No Kourin-san, I'm not ok." Aichi took a deep breath and gathered his courage. "Kourin-san….the truth is, there's this girl," At this, Kourin felt her heart plummet. She steeled herself not allowing the tears that were threatening to fall. _Of course it would be a girl. He is a teenage boy after all. I just thought I had a chance…_She blinked back some tears that were threatening to fall down her face. She might have just lost the love of her life to another girl, but she didn't want to look bad in front of him. Her mascara would be ruined!

Aichi, unaware of Kourin's slight mental breakdown, carried on:"She's incredible, brave and beautiful." He snuck a love filled glance at Kourin."I owe her so much. I don't know how I would've made it this far without her."

"This girl sounds perfect Aichi," muttered Kourin dolefully. She desperately wanted to go and find a nice, quiet place to cry her heart out. "Why don't you tell this girl how you feel about her? I think she would like to know." _I know I would._

"I just told you Kourin." Aichi had had enough of skirting around the elephant in the room, as it were. If he didn't do something now, he knew he never would. With all his courage, Aichi leant up and kissed Kourin lightly, but firmly on the lips. A million different feelings rushed through them both. Kourin was mind blown. She couldn't believe that Aichi was kissing her. It may be cliché, but it was the most beautiful, passionate, amazing kiss she had ever experienced. A minute could have passed, it could have been a year. She had no concept of time. All she could think about was how well their lips felt together.

With reluctance, Aichi pulled away, a bright red blush on his face. "I-I'm so sorry Kourin-ssan," he stuttered, thinking she would be furious. He was greatly surprised when Kourin started to cry, pulling him into another searing kiss. When they parted she gazed at him lovingly.

"I always thought you didn't feel the same way, Aichi. These last months have been the best and worse of my life since I met you. I used to look at love with distaste, thinking it only led to heartbreak and hurt. So I kept my heart locked up, never acting on any feelings I had. But then you came along and, well blasted the lock apart. I fell in love with you at first sight. You have no idea how it feels to know you reciprocate. I love you, Aichi."

"Kourin-s…chan." Aichi smiled at the dreamy look that had appeared on Kourin's face at the more affectionate change in the suffix. He took her hand gently and led her towards the party. "Let's go and enjoy the party." Kourin blushed, nodded and smiled. Just as they were about to rejoin the party, Aichi stopped with a frown. He then gently smiled, turned and whispered a handful of words in Kourin's ear.

To this day, nobody knew what those words were. But, judging from the blood red blush that struck Kourin's face and how she basically devoured Aichi's face (Again metaphorically!) we can only assume. Needless to say the party was a roaring success. Everyone was greatly accepting of the new couple. Well, when I say everyone…

"KOURIN-CHAN! HOW COULD YOU! AICHI, YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"


End file.
